ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to explore certain aspects of the economy of County Cork between 1815 and 1845, beginning with the system of estate administration and land tenure. The middleman system of estate management, by strongly encouraging the reckless subletting and subdivision of farms, stimulated the rapid growth of population that was primarily responsible for the impoverishment of agricultural labourers after 1815. The relationship between the farmer and his hired, or bound, labourer was based essentially on the exchange of land for work. Sheep, neglected by Irish farmers since 1780, became a significant part of the rural economy again between 1815 and 1845. The loss of the West Indian and Newfoundland markets for Irish salted beef and pork in the late 1820s and early 1830s contributed to the decline. When violent price fluctuations in the 1820s and abnormally low prices in the early 1830s finally persuaded farmers to reduce their wheat production after 1833, the milling industry fell upon hard times.
